dustofnations’s BodyBlog

so today was supposed to be a good shoulder/chest day. i was getting on the tail end of my workout with some wide grip bench when a 5.6 earthquake hit. unfortunately i was in the eccentric phase of the lift, so when the weight shifted to the left, i shifted my shoulder just a little bit to support it. There was a REALLY tiny sound that came from it…dunno if i’d describe it as more of a pop or crack, but once i put the weight back up, my shoulder hurt like hell! I couldn’t believe how that little tiny movement could cause so much pain. So now i’m out of a shoulder routine for the next 2 weeks to be on the safe side. I don’t have any medical and an exam would be too pricey. Maybe i could go to the campus health center here at SJSU and get it checked out, but i already know they’ll just tell me to take it easy for the next week or so. that’s what everyone has told me every time i’ve injured my shoulders. all of this because of mother nature. i mostly feel the pain whenever i do any kind of lateral motion so i’m guessing it was the rotator cuff….weak sauce. Well at least the next time i tell an injury story, i can say this one wasn’t because i was doing anything reckless or stupid.

Woo! that was awesome! i came in 2nd place in my weight class, but went down in the books at 3rd, but still badass. what happened is that it was judged based on how much you could lift in proportion to your body weight. i weight in at 169 and put up 275. the other guys in my class also put up 275. the guy who took second weight in at 170. but the guy doing the recording put my lifted weight at 270, so that decreased my ratio. Everyone else including the other guy was a little confused when he was named, but i gave him the go ahead to step up and accept the trophy. This was more for me than anything and i know where i stand so i’m cool with it. I also felt like i could’ve gone a little heavier so i’m pretty happy about that…new max??? Congratualtions to all the other guys! Overall first place, 190 lbs, lifting 370…and it was still just cake for the guy. that is freaking impressive as hell! Next competition is a power lifting competition set for February. I’ll be there and I’ll be one hell of a force too!

so until now, i’ve never really gone through with signing up for any kind of body-anything competition. I know it’s small, but it’s my first. I’m entered in a benchpress competition that’s supposed to take place tomorrow in the SJSU sports club. I’m not sure how i’ll do since there are a lot of guys at the same gym who can lift heavier than i can, but they’re all around the 200 lb range. the coordinator said everyone who was signed up was less than 180 so the weight classes shouldn’t be too broad. The last i could put up was 275 so i’m kinda iffy. I’ve been training for mostly strength the last 3 weeks (sacrificed a little bit of def. all around, but i’ll get it back quickly) and after a good hard workout the other day, i was able to put up a good amount of weight much easier, but i haven’t checked to see where my new max (if there is one) stands. At least when this is over, i’m sure i’ll be pumped to improve. 3 lifts to push to the next level. wish me luck

Have you ever heard of THRICE? they just released their new album on the 16th of this month. the concept is amazing…a 4 disc album, each installment focused around a different element. Vol. I and II, Fire and Water were released and Air and Earth are due this spring. Thrice is my absolute favorite band ever. I’ve been a fan for years and have followed all the stuff they’ve done since they were still playing small shows back home and no one knew who they were which is great because it’s amazing to look back and see how much they’ve grown. Anyway, you’ve gotta check out THE ALCHEMY INDEX, its absolutely amazing! It’s a giant leap for the band, but the experimental concepts they tackle are genius. Go to myspace.com/thrice and check out tracks from Fire and Water. Keep in mind each disc is centered around a certain type of feeling that can be equated to an element, so there is a hell of  range to listen to.

So tonight’s workout wasn’t the best. I’ve been working out with my ex-gf a lot and training her since the summer (not certified, but i’m working on it). Tensions ran a little high tonight though. The hardest part about helping someone at the gym is getting them to do exercises or target muscles they don’t like to or want to do, but may need to.

Either way i got a little irked when she told me she didn’t want to deadlift since she injured her back awhile ago and was afraid of hurting it again. She got frustrated with me trying to explain that it’s been a long time since and she needs to strengthen her back. So she stormed off, but at least she hopped on a stationary bike. I’d rather her do something over nothing and it knocked out the cardio i had planned for her tonight anyway. Either way i think she was just got really irritated at first with the difficulty of finding the weight she needed to exercise with.

i wanted to work a dumbell routine to promote balance and work through several ranges of motion, but the dumbells were scattered all over the gym in random places, racked in the wrong places, being hogged, being blocked…just about all that can ruin any planned dumbell exercise. It’s so frustrating to see a gym in that state. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you can’t at least exercise proper gym etiquette, all that weight and those reps you can do don’t mean crap when it comes to being "that guy" in the gym…y’know the one that everyone always notices and happens to stare at him, unable to comprehend how someone can be so strong. Rack the damn weights people! oh yeah, and i understand it’s the gym, but dammit there is a level of stink that is just unacceptable. Human beings are not supposed to smell like old chicken noodle soup or hot garbage

While i’m on that, another thing that bothers me is seeing people with bad form. I’ve seen people hurt themselves in the gym and sometimes it’s really not pretty. I still can’t help but smirk at the guy who comes up next to me, looks at the weight in my hands, then picks up 70 lb dumbells and starts doing the same exercise. ITS NOT AN EFFECTIVE BICEP CURL IF YOU HAVE TO SWING IT LIKE A WRECKING BALL AND PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT!! I’m never jealous of people who work out next to me with a heavier weight and do it right. I go to the gym to work out for me and people who are obviously at higher levels than i am are inspiration and sometimes learning tools.

It also drives me nuts wanting to just stop people and at least correct them so they don’t hurt themselves. Everyone has different lifting styles, but there are just some rules set in concrete about proper form. My rule is you NEVER SACRIFICE YOUR FORM. sure you might give up the weight or reps, but at least you reduce the chance of hurting yourself.

so basically, for your own sake as well as those around you, please rack the weight accordingly, put on a bit of deodorant or something, and learn to lift the correct way.

so awhile ago i was able to make it up to 185, but not all of it was muscle and it was hard to maintain. so i’ve decided since to just forget about focusing on weight and just focus on strength and endurance. But i’m thinking i’d like to start working on size more. A lot of the people i see that are about where i want to be at all seem to be using numerous supplements. I’ve stuck to just using protein powders and glutamine here or there but that’s it. I know i don’t want some freaking crazy borderline steroid type stuff. A lot of guys are all about pumping themselves full of pills and powders that their insides get really screwed up. I dunno. I’ll keep thinking about it. Maybe i’ll go with some NO or something soon. I really need to look into it more before making a choice. Any suggestions or advice?